World Series: Detroit Tigers go quietly in 3-0 hole

DETROIT -- Here's how thoroughly the Giants have throttled the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. They've driven the American League Triple Crown winner and likely MVP into hiding.

While most the Tigers stayed in their somber, silent locker room to face up to the sour music of a 3-0 series hole, star slugger Miguel Cabrera dressed and bolted Comerica Park following the 2-0 Game 3 loss without even speaking to the media.

Little wonder. Cabrera has pretty much vanished throughout this series, as well. The Giants' pitching staff has limited him to two singles, two walks and one RBI in 11 plate appearances (.222).

More importantly, Ryan Vogelsong won a pivotal battle Saturday night in a Cabrera at-bat that could have turned the Fall Classic -- the bases-loaded, two-out situation in the fifth inning with Comerica Park rocking and the Tigers poised to celebrate a huge Cabrera hit.

But it wasn't much of a battle. Vogelsong threw a low-and-outside pitch that Cabrera fouled off for strike one, then came up and in, and the overanxious slugger popped the ball up to shortstop Brandon Crawford.

"We felt confident he (Cabrera) was going to do it right there," said designated hitter Delmon Young, answering for his departed teammate. "But Vogelsong made the pitch. He got it in enough where he couldn't do anything with the pitch.

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"If it had been out over the plate, we could have been talking about being down 2-1 because it would have been driven somewhere."

"That's just baseball," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "It looked like he climbed the ladder a little bit and sometimes that's the pitch you pop up. He (Vogelsong) made a big pitch at a big time, but obviously, we're not going to talk about one at-bat, taking away from how great Miguel Cabrera is."

Indeed, Cabrera's shortcomings against Giants pitching have been compounded by the man hitting behind him in the lineup. Prince Fielder went 0 for 4 and is now 1 for 10 in the series, and he also had one of the biggest at-bats of the night for Detroit with two on and one out in the first inning.

But Fielder hit a double-play ball to second base Marco Scutaro, then followed up with a pair of strikeouts and a well struck but a well short fly to right fielder Hunter Pence.

"(Vogelsong) just made a good pitch," Fielder said of the first-inning double play ball. "He got it in enough where I couldn't get it on the barrel."

Unlike Cabrera, Fielder stood at his locker and answered questions for nearly a half-hour, until every last one was exhausted.

"All we can do is try to play hard," he said. "Unfortunately, it hasn't been the right script. They're good, they're playing good right now, and we're making too many mistakes. You've got to tip your cap. We're not getting it done."

Fielder didn't try to sugarcoat the dire situation the Tigers face.

"I never would have imagined we could be down 3-0 in the series, but it is what it is now," he said. "You have to be an adult about it."

Fielder said he wouldn't try to say anything to teammates Sunday to try and muster a miracle comeback.

"Nah, all that talk stuff is for Hoosiers and the movies," he said. "That's not real life. There's nothing really to say. Everybody's prepared, it's just not working out right now. It's hard to keep your energy up ... it's just tough."

No. 2 hitter Quintin Berry also had a rough night. He hit into a double play in the third inning, then with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, worked a 2-1 count against Vogelsong but wound up striking out on successive swings.

"I was just trying to get a ball up, because he's a sinkerball pitcher," Berry said. "After hitting into that double play, I didn't want to swing at something down. He gave me something up, and I extended the strike zone a little too much (on strike 2) and then he gave me another pitch I could have gotten job done with, but I just didn't execute it the way I wanted."

Berry said the Tigers can't take on the mental weight of the fact that no team has ever come back to win a World Series after being 3-0 down. In fact, of the 23 teams that we're down 0-3, 20 wound up getting swept.

"You can't worry about that," he said. "If you let those things get to you, you might as well go home now."